Are You a Shopaholic? Six Steps to Curb Compulsive Spending

I had dinner with my friend Sue the other night. Over pasta and clams, we talked about life and money. She told me about her brother. “He’s a compulsive spender,” said Sue. “He spends money even when he doesn’t have any.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Well,” she said, “for one thing, he spends his money before he gets it. For example, when he was still working with Big Computer Company, Inc., somebody told him he was going to get a raise. But instead of waiting for the raise, he started spending as if he already had the money. He never got the raise.”

I nodded. I’ve done that myself in the past.

“And now that he’s on his own,” Sue continued, “he does the same thing. He’ll get a consulting job that promises to pay big bucks, so he’ll buy a new laptop or go on a trip. Sometimes these jobs fall through, though, and he’s spent money he never received. It’s dumb.”

I could tell she was frustrated. “But the dumbest thing he’s done is cashing out his retirement when he quit Big Computer Company, Inc. He did use that money to pay off debt. That was good. But that debt has slowly and surely reappeared. He owes just as much as he used to, but now he doesn’t have anything saved for retirement.”

She shook her head and ate another clam.

“He’s a compulsive spender,” she said. “If he was a woman, I’d call him a shopaholic.”

I knew exactly what she meant. I used to be a compulsive spender, too. For years, I was addicted to shopping. I got a rush out of buying new stuff. I especially liked buying new books and movies, but really I didn’t care what I bought — it was the act of buying itself that made me feel good. Sometimes on the drive home from work, I’d stop at a department store just so I could buy something: candles, magazines, small pieces of furniture, whatever.

Shopping of spending money as a result of being disappointed, angry or scared.

Shopping/spending habits causing emotional distress or chaos in one’s life.

Having arguments with others regarding shopping or spending habits.

Feeling lost without credit cards.

Buying items on credit that would not be bought with cash.

Spending money causes a rush of euphoria and anxiety at the same time.

Spending or shopping feels like a reckless or forbidden act.

Feeling guilty, ashamed, embarrassed or confused after shopping or spending money. Many purchases are never used.

Lying to others about what was bought or how much money was spent.

Thinking excessively about money.

Spending a lot of time juggling accounts and bills to accommodate spending.

I have experienced all of these. In fact, I used to suffer from many of these at the same time. It felt awful. An addiction to spending is a scary, dangerous thing. Like other addictions, it causes victims to feel lost, out of control.

Those who have never suffered from compulsive spending cannot understand the problem. They don’t know what it’s like to see something and feel the urge to buy it now. They don’t know the rush from shopping, and the subsequent nausea from the guilt of having spent more money they do not have. At the height of my spending, I had a love-hate relationship with my credit cards. I knew that what I was doing was destroying my life, but I felt powerless to stop. The only thing that gave me comfort was buying new Stuff. (The very Stuff that I’ve spent the last three months purging from our house, by the way.)

Coping with compulsive spending
Based on my own experience — and based on conversations I’ve had with others — here are six steps you can take now to put a stop to compulsive spending:

Cut up your credit cards. Do it today. “But I need them for an emergency.” “But I get cash back.” “But they’re convenient.” No buts. If you have a problem with compulsive spending, destroy your credit cards now. Don’t jot the numbers down someplace “just in case”. I’ve done this in the past, and I know how easy it is to go to your desk drawer, pull out the numbers, and place an order online. Get rid of the credit cards completely. (Do not attempt to cancel your accounts, however, until you’ve paid everything you owe.)

Only carry cash. Don’t use checkbook. Don’t even use a debit card. Inconvenient? Absolutely, but that’s the point. If you’re a compulsive spender, your goal is to break the habit. To do this, you’ve got to make sacrifices. You’ve also got to begin to make the connection between buying something and actually spending money. Plastic (and to some degree checks) make this connection fuzzy. Use cash.

Track every penny you spend. When I was addicted to shopping, I intentionally turned a blind eye to how much I was spending. But most of the time, I wasn’t even aware of how much I spent. Lunch every day at McDonald’s? How much could that possibly cost? (Answer: over $100/month.) Picking up a few comics on my way home from work? What harm was there in that? Once I began to track my spending, certain patterns became clear. When I saw the patterns, I was able to act on them.

Play mind games. For some people, money is not an emotional issue. They understand it intuitively. They’re able to make the smart choices without temptation to do otherwise. For most of us, though, money is more about mind than it is about math. For us, it can be useful to play tricks on ourselves. What do I mean by mind games?

Ask yourself: “Is this a want or a need?” Try to discover what is motivating the purchase.

Tax yourself: Whenever you buy something, force yourself to set aside some set percentage as savings.

When you’re tempted to buy something, write it down. Make a wishlist. I do this at Amazon in order to control my spending. I have a gigantic wishlist which I prune occasionally. This wishlist keeps me from actually buying things!

Yes, these are simple little tricks. But they’re tricks that work. If they can help you stop spending, that’s all that matters.

Avoid temptation. The best way for me to avoid spending money on comic books is to not enter the comic book shop. If your weakness is music, stay out of the record store (or de-activate your iTunes account). If you tend to spend money at big department stores, then stay out of them. Avoid the places where you’d normally spend.

Ask for help. Beating an addiction can be tough when you’re going it alone. Seek support from your friends and family. Ask your spouse to help. (And be open when they call you on your actions — don’t get angry.)

Finally, consider seeking professional help. There is no shame in obtaining psychotherapy for problems that seem bigger than you. Ultimately you must look inward to overcome any form of addiction — a therapist is like a trained guide who can help you find the way.

Additional resources
For more information on coping with compulsive spending, explore the following web sites:

The good news is you can overcome this. You can break free from emotional spending. The bad news is that it’s going to take work. It won’t happen overnight. You’ll make mistakes, and you’ll backslide. When you do, don’t give up. Don’t beat yourself up because you bought a new purse or played a round of golf at the new course. You’re human. Keep focused on your long-term goal, and resolve to do better next time.

I don’t know about causes. I think it’s different for everyone. I’m not even sure I know what I caused it in me. I have hypotheses, but that’s all they are: basically guesses.

In my case, I grew up poor. We didn’t have much. I wanted stuff. I couldn’t have stuff. My parents couldn’t afford it. As a young boy, I got in the habit of collecting junk from the side of the road (or whereever). I had a closet that my parents called my “rat’s nest”. This was where I kept the stuff I acquired.

As I grew older, I didn’t have anyone to model proper spending habits. My parents spent all the money they earned. They didn’t save anything. So as I earned money, I spent it, too. I didn’t think that there might be another way to do things.

I went to college and kept spending. I also kept wanting things. But now I was introduced to credit. Suddenly I could have anything I wanted, and I wouldn’t have to worry about paying for it for years. What a racket! I felt like I was rich.

Basically, all of these things combined to encourage me to spend. Ultimately, of course, I was at fault for not being smart with my money. I allowed myself to be conditioned to want things and to buy them. I still suffer from this a little, but mostly I’m beginning to worry that I’ve become pathologically frugal.

I’d be curious to hear from other compulsive spenders as to what they think caused the problem in them…

As for children — I think the best thing you can do is model smart money habits. Kids emulate what they see. The things they learn become habits.

Ah, for me, it is simply most every moment of it.. The nice cute clothes.. the fun new tech. ^^;; I love looking at them and things.

I’m in an interesting spot in my life, mainly because my story is exactly like J.D.’s.. I didn’t have enough money to eat half the time, so now that I have it, I want to use it. ^^;; Though, what’s more, is I feel I deserve to.

I just wanted to thank you so much J.D. I know that I’ve been trying not to think of ways to stop this before it get’s bad because I’m having so much fun spending. I loved the idea’s you have, particularly the one about taxing yourself. The good new is that, as much as I love shopping, I am not to the point where I’m spending so much I can’t afford my bills, but I’m so close to that right now.. It’s so stupid. ^^;; I genuinely feel great shopping, but the next it doesn’t even matter anymore. That coupled between my attraction to this guy at barnes in nobel is going to be the death of my wallet if I don’t watch out.

BUT YES! Thank you so much for this article. I’m changing this part of me and I’m going to force myself to do it, not because of money really, but because I hate not having control of myself. lol

Oh my… This is exactly me. I am controlling it better now but… I am also the poor person who couldn’t even afford food. But also, all my friends were rich. It wasn’t that I wanted to have the things they had… I just wanted the freedom of being able to get some coffee without worrying that I had spent all the money I had and have to go hungry. I wanted to not feel self-conscious about wearing scratchy, worn-out fabrics while my friends had soft luxury ones.

I guess it’s really all about feelings. I’m trying hard to stop my spending now, and have actually been able to do it for a few months at a time. I am going to take a vow of austerity for a year, since I believe I should have enough stuff now and just need to learn to live without getting any more!

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Helensays:

09 May 2013 at 11:43 pm

I grew up in a fairly wealthy family so I was used to getting everything I asked for. After my father lost his business we all continued to spend and live the lifestyle that we were used to. I never really learned how to save because I never really felt the need to spend. I just thought that I would inherit all the money I need for my future but now that is not the case and I have started to recognize my spending problem. Thank you for this post. I think using the tips here are the first steps I can take to learning how to get out of my shopaholic lifestyle and start saving for my future.

I’m a big fan of BBC tv series called ‘Spendaholics’ about this very thing. In that series, the participants usually have large debts and are given strategies to reduce their spending.

The single most successful element though, is discussing the underlying reason that they compulsively spend. I don’t know whether it is true for everyone – that overspending is a symptom rather than a cause – but it seems to be case for a lot of people.

All great tips. I especially identify with #5. My weakness was online shopping, so to curb impulse buys I unsubscribed from e-mail newsletters (“save 15% and get free shipping at crapyoudontneed.com!!!”) and shopping blogs. Ignorance is bliss.

I used to have this problem with buying maagzines. I love to read and I’d buy it, figuring it was a small purchase and of no consequence(stupid, I know). I didn’t even enjoy most of them.

i enjoyed the tips, especially avoiding temptation. I stopped going to get coffee at Wawa and 7-11 before going to work and school. It’s really made a difference believe it or not and now when I go there on weekends, I’m not so tempted

Wow, that really hit home! I’ve been there for the last 10 years since I got out of college. It’s just been in the last couple of months the wife and I are really being serious about changing. It’s a team effort to get us out of this.

We’re making the step by giving ourself an allowance and leaving the rest to pay bills. Since the bill pay money will be in a seperate, online account, the transfer will take several days so we will be forced into thinking about extra purchases.

For me, simply creating the impression that I don’t have cash available helps me curb shopping. On payday I have a sudden influx of tons of cash. But before I’m tempted to spend it, I allocate most of it (on the very morning I am paid) to various goals and suddenly I don’t feel so cash-rich and am thus not tempted to waste money on things I don’t need. That mind game works for me: it’s the illusion of plenty that usually makes me spend.

Interestingly enough, we just hit on a similar strategy to help curb my girlfriend’s daughter’s profligate consumption of toilet paper. Ever since we moved to our new home she’s been going through three rolls of toilet paper a day…we don’t know (and don’t want to know) what she uses it all for, but we finally realized that if we kept all the spare rolls in the basement instead of leaving a week’s supply in the bathroom, she would use less. Apparently the fact that there was a stack of rolls in plain sight was causing her to consume more than she needed to. Now she goes through just a roll a day, which is still a lot but more reasonable than three. Similarly with money, creating the illusion of less cash, or making your cash less easily available, can help reduce spending.

When we use credit cards, we sure get a false sense of power, don’t we? But then the purchases add up, and the fun ceases, and all of a sudden we break out in a sweat trying to figure out how to pay for it all. Here’s what stopped my impulse spending: I made a list of those expenses that aren’t monthly, including xmas presents, car registration, and the like. Then I added them all up, and divided by 12 to see how much money every month I should save toward them and was shocked at the high amount! Fortunately, it was within my income to do that, so I am, and it showed me I can’t make anymore random purchases or impulse purchases because if so, it’ll leave me short for those future expenses, and for my peace of mind and to keep that credit card balance at a 0, nothing is worth that.

Here’s a tip I read recently that might be useful: It suggested that before we make a purchase, we should ask ourselves if we would buy this item if we knew we were going to be laid off tomorrow? (Very helpful & quick way to separate a want from a need).

Example: Getting out of college and making 5 times as much meant I could get books I hadn’t had money or time for earlier. I also had my first apartment – which meant I could do things the way I wanted for the first time. So a lot of spending was based on that feeling of liberty after holding back for years. It wore off.

Deprivation is also related to fear. Growing up, finding clothes in my size was hard. I would buy almost anything that fit, just because I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to find anything else. Now I know I have enough, so I only buy to replace tried-and-true-but-worn-out items. Or new needs, like the white coat for visibility walking to the bus stop when the sun sets at 4:30.

Re: absent-mindedness, I think paying attention to money (inflow, outflow, plans, contingencies) is a learned skill. I tracked every penny I spent for 3 months. It was a good exercise in focus and mindfulness. Learning to pay attention to money, not just for an hour while paying bills, but enough to keep on track through the month.

Of course, the “compulsive spender” bulleted list mostly leaves me puzzled. So maybe I’m just not a “compulsive spender”, either.

I have a co-worker like this. It’s really quite sad. I know how much she makes, because we make the same salary, and I know how much debt she has too, because she told me (roughly the same amount I have in student loans). All I can do is shake my head. We’re not really close, but hearing her talk about her spending gives ME anxiety.

I can relate to this, and also to what JD says about issues from childhood.

Now — I tend to not be one of those people who look back at their childhood for the reasons why I’m crippled in some way. However, I know that the root of my overspending, and especially my overspending on college degrees, is directly a result of a childhood where money was extremely tight — and more importantly, a reaction against a father who was of the opinion that “people like us” didn’t need anything better than what he was providing, which wasn’t much.

My dad thought (and thinks) that education was stupid, spending money on books was stupid, spending money on clothes/furniture, etc was stupid. About the only thing he thinks is ok to spend money on is food, and even there he’s a penny pincher. To make things even worse, he retired from the military when I was 12 and he was 45, and never made a serious attempt to find other work since he had a military pension that brought in a little over $1000 a month (which should be more than enough for “people like us”, he said).

So my mom had to really pinch pennies (and also went back to work herself when I was 13 since dad’s pension really wasn’t enough to keep us going).

Fast forward to my issues: I had always been determined to go to college, and so I got myself there – on scholarship. When I left home, it was like being liberated from a financial nightmare – for the first time I had control over my meager checking. And I really struggled from the outset.

–It took me YEARS to be able to go into a bookstore and not have an out-of-control shopping experience – books were a special case because I’ve always been a voracious reader and my dad always (even now) takes potshots at me for liking to read.
–It took me YEARS to buy clothes and jewelry sensibly. Especially jewelry. When I got control of my wardrobe I just went nuts, especially later when I started buying clothes for work.
–I had an especially hard time when I started renting on my own and started buying home furnishings. I just went nuts buying furniture and home decorating items – all sorts of things I felt deprived of as a child.
–Part of my stubborn racking up of college degrees is also related to this whole thing, and would be a case study in rebellion against a parent for a shrink. Since my dad really thinks education is a foolish waste of time, and since for a time I was hellbent on getting more and more college, “cost be damned”.

The list could go on and on – but all these things only got under control when I looked at what my childhood messages were and started teaching myself that I didn’t have to REACT anymore – that I didn’t have to behave like I was in a condition of material scarcity. Which is what was behind it – in my mind, I was coming from a place of lack and scarcity and I needed to replace that with knowing that I had plenty already and didn’t need to accumulate like a squirrel buying nuts for the winter.

P.S. – I’ve come a long way but truthfully I still have room to improve. I can easily go into a store now and spend nothing. I can just as easily slip right back into “gotta acquire” mode, especially if I’m feeling emotionally fragile at the time.

P.S. — And I did get my revenge against dad, who never made more than $25K/year in his life. For several years now I’ve made more than 3 times that amount annually, all thanks to that education he thought was such a foolish waste.

Thanks for your honesty, J.D. My therapist has pointed out that compulsive disorders of many colors may be related; for example, when my eating disorder is under control, I struggle with spending, and when my spending is under control, the food issues flare. In my case, they’re all symptoms of an underlying problem that requires the peeling back of layers and layers of dysfunctional coping mechanisms.

DH tends to be compulsive about spending as well, because he came from a big family with limited income. They weren’t poor, but he didn’t get a lot of things his friends did. Often, that sense of deprivation causes a lot of our wrangling about spending less.

As for me, I’m generally pretty controlled when it comes to spending.

However — I’ve found an area where I’m totally compulsive. Since we moved back to Wisconsin from California, I shop rather compulsively every fall because WINTER IS COMING. Silly, I know, but I find myself stocking up on more long underwear, socks, sweaters, theatre tickets, hockey tickets, musical activities and equipment, winter sporting gear, etc. We end up with more of all this stuff than we need, but I know that many of these things make the unbearable dark and cold weather more bearable, or at least distract me from it. At first, it was funny, but now that we’re on our 3rd winter here, it’s becoming less funny, and I need to do something about it . . .

Is it compulsive, or is it an incidence where you’re scared of not having enough, or do you forget what you’ve already bought?

I’m not saying it’s not something you won’t decide to deal with. Maybe drawing up a list of things to make you feel winter-ready and implementing them would work, so you could remind yourself “I’m ready for winter.” Or maybe having the list will let you know not to get hockey tickets for the 3rd because you’ve already got something else that night.

Any compulsive spending tendencies I may once have had (apart from the usual poor judgment of the early 20s ages) are long gone. Apart from books, where I can still go a bit nuts, I am very careful of my spending these days. Books can be a problem because at my reading speed I can finish a typical-size novel in about 4 hours if undisturbed. Then I want another book.

I am slowly building up a spreadsheet for planning all of my expenses beyond the monthly ones. I started in February and add more things as stuff comes up that I forgot about. This should make life easier next year as I have a visible reminder of needing money by date X for reason Y.

For me, planning it all out ahead of time has been a life saver, and I don’t mean the ones that come wrapped in foil. Impulse spending is harder to do if you know that the cash in pocket has to last until friday. It also helps that plastic is considered “screwup coverage” and if I have to resort to it for anything but a planned purchase, I’ve dropped the ball.

My husband and I are both compulsive spenders (which is mainly how we ended with a lot of debt)… now that he has lost his job we have no other choice but to follow these steps… I’ll start tonight by leaving my credit and check cards at home…

I find that the best way to spend less is that when you see something that you want to buy, don’t buy it at that time. Go home and decide the next day if you still want it. When your away from the heavy advertising in stores, its amazing how clear your mind can be in deciding what you need and what you want.

JenK: I’m not sure how to explain this. I spend money on yet more warm clothing and live entertainment to help me look forward to the cold, dark months ahead. I’m trying to substitute some anticipation for the dread. This kind of spending was funny (especially for family and friends) for the first 2 years (I avoided winter for 15 years), but it’s becoming less funny, because I already have so much stuff, and it really isn’t rational.

Methinks I need to find other ways of dealing with the annual temperature drop, darkness, and hibernation until April. Maybe I need to invest in a light box and a warm weather getaway . . .

Compulsive spending is the driving urge to buy something, usually to fulfill some psychological hole. Impulsive spending is just buying something on a whim. If you’re standing in line at the grocery store and give in to the latest magazine, you’re buying on impulse. But if you feel the urge to go buy new clothes because it’ll make you feel better, that’s compulsive spending.

For me, I just plain like buying things. Any thing. I like having new things, I like looking at new things, I like having neat tidy packages and perfectly matching stuff. Oddly, I am just as happy with make do stuff where I’ve had to be creative, so I’ve hit upon a solution: I don’t go to stores. My husband does all of the grocery shopping – he likes it – and I avoid all stores.

I don’t know where this love of spending comes from. My parents were practical people who taught me not to borrow money, to carefully save, and to buy things that I would enjoy or that would last. We were told how much money our parents had to spend on clothes, on food, or on going out, and were expected to help make decisions about how to spend that money. (Except for vegetables. For some unknown reason, my parents didn’t grasp that eliminating vegetables would save us money). So I wasn’t deprived, nor was I spoiled, by North American standards. I think I just plain made stupid choices.

Question are you still trying to figure out why you spend or why you feel the need to spend? I have also had my husband take over finances but once he gives me money I go spend on junk food or stuff that we dont need I just like to spend money and I am trying to figure out why.

“Only carry cash.” – Frugal Bachelor has found that this advice doesn’t work for him, in fact, just the opposite. While in mode of cutting down spending, it pains him to reach for a credit card. But cash, not at all. His wallet contains no cash about 90% of the time. And whenever he has a few dollars, they are gone within days, mainly spent on food at vending machines, fast food restaurants, and convenience stores. The great thing about credit cards is that, if they are even accepted, it feels silly to use them for purchases less than about $4. Almost every day, Frugal Bachelor has urge to go to convenience store on the corner and buy some junk food but since he has no cash and since he knows they don’t accept charges for less than $4, he never does, and this have saved many hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars over the last couple of years. If Frugal Bachelor ever goes back to carrying cash, he would only carry $100 bills because they are so hard to break, especially for small purchases.

I totally love and use the “wish list” “shopping cart” trick. I just bought a book for my niece on Amazon.com and I have all kinds of stuff sitting in my cart that I want but have not bought. Somehow just having it sit in my cart is enough for me, I know I won’t ‘forget’ the cool product, I know where it is if I really need it and its fun to watch the prices rise and fall on Amazon.

Thank you for this article. This encourages me to talk to my oldest daughter about money and how to better manage it. We have a lot of expenses and she doesn’t understand why we never have money. I’ve been debating about showing her our accounts and I think the time is right. Maybe it will prevent her from becoming a shop a holic if she sees where the money is going. Maybe it won’t but at least she’ll have a better understanding of money.

I totally identify with this. Five years ago I was standing on the edge of the bankruptcy precipice teetering on the edge. All of it credit card and LOC debt partly from spending and partly from a failed business–often I’d shop for solace–unlike you, I don’t have much to show for my spending; I look around and wonder what the heck I spent all that money on! I cut up my credit cards and lived on cash since then–not easy to do in a world of online shopping and being a nothing in a credit-based world unless you have one. I’ve read that attitudes toward money are emotion based and often learned in childhood. Won’t go into that, but can say I believe that’s absolutely true. One of the best investment and money management bits of advice I learned in the past couple years was ‘know thyself’. This Shopaholic advice is an excellent addition to your blog GRS–thanks! You’ve done your readers a great service.

Great analysis. One other huge temptation is catalogs – they’re glossy and gorgeous. Go right to http://www.catalogchoice.org and cut off all your catalogs. It will only take you about 10 minutes. It takes about 10 weeks to get off all the lists since they print labels far ahead, but not having them greet you in the mail helps hugely.
Of course you also have to substitute the kick that shopping gave you. For a lot of americans, investing more time with friends/loved onees and/or in a spiritual activity will help nurture the sense of well-being and security which is usually lacking when we’re spending all our free time in the pursuit of stuff. Keeping a journal also helps with self-insight.
Forming or joining a support group like a Simplicity Circle is another way of building accountability as well as relationships.

TosaJen – I am borderline SAD and live near Seattle. Right now we have less than 9 hours of daylight. I do a bunch of things to cope with this, including: bright lights to turn on first thing in the morning (in my case, in the bathroom); full-spectrum CFLs in most of the house; walking outside for at least 20-30 minutes a day during daylight; not sleeping in on the weekends; enjoying cozy things like the orange spice tea they provide at work; dressing in bright colors. I don’t know if any of that would help YOU, but hey, there it is.

Thanks for this article – but in a different way. Reading the article and the comments, I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m not a compulsive spender. I am sometimes impulsive, but my main problem in the past was simple disorganization. I didn’t plan, I didn’t budget, and I didn’t keep track of what I already had.

I agree that cash can be more difficult for some. My husband will spend every dime of a $20 as soon as he breaks it so he gives me the cash since I hate having to pull out cash and will let it sit until the next time when we need to pull out money for a cash only incident. The real trick is finding out what is the best way for you to control your spending habits. Whatever your tigers are find a different activity to fulfill that need that doesn’t cost money to do in downtime when you are more likely to fill that time with shopping.

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The worst part of being a shopaholic is buying things that you think you need and then finding them in your closet a year later unworn and untouched. I started a method a few years ago where I would buy something and keep the tag on it and receipt. If I didn’t wear it within 3 weeks I’d take it back. It works…

I’m curious why “shopaholic” seems to be a term that can only be applied to women. It’s a play off “alcoholic,” and the root implies addiction. Do men not shop? This is a great article, but that bit seemed kind of sexist.

A good tip – if you are going to buy an item you don’t really need (for say $100), require yourself to also put the same amount of money into savings. Is that same item worth $200? If it is, at least your saving while you are spending.

[...] Are You a Shopaholic? Six Steps to Curb Compulsive Spending. A great post for anyone who feels a strong emotional need to shop and can’t seem to just stop doing it even when you know it’s stupid. [...]

Excellent post! I can’t beleive I missed it when it originally went up.

I tried to pinpoint the root of my compulsive spending in a recent blog post, but in the end it just looked like a laundry list of excuses.

Personally, I think that this kind of spending has the same pathology as compulsive overeating – or even drug addiction/alcoholism – people know that it’s bad for them, yet they do it anyway. It temporarily fills a deep whole within their pysche.

[...] Honestly, I think I’m a shopaholic. I thought that seemed crazy at first, but after reading this great article by J.D. at Get Rich Slowly, I really think that is me. Like most men, I don’t get any joy out of going to the mall or [...]

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